Ali Mahmoud Othman

Ali Mahmoud Othman Citizen journalist Arrested by the Syrian authorities, in March 2012, in Aleppo His fate and whereabouts remain unknown

Ali Mahmoud Othman is a citizen journalist from Homs. During the Syrian uprising he became the head of a media centre in Homs, Baba Amro News, which provided footage and content to different regional and international media (Al-Jazeera, CNN, BBC…).

He was was also well-known for helping foreign journalists enter Baba ‘Amr, and for facilitating the movement of foreign journalists in and out of Homs – including journalist Paul Conroy and French reporter Edith Bouvier after they were injured in shelling.

He was arrested by government forces in Aleppo in March 2012.

After he disappeared in March 2012, released detainees claimed to have seen him at a Military Intelligence branch in Aleppo and later at the Palestine Branch detention centre in Damascus, but his family was never told where he was being held or why until he appeared on Syria state TV in May 2012, where the presenter explained that Ali Mahmoud Othman had been arrested for being a media worker who co-operated with “external powers plotting against Syria”. No one has heard from Ali Mahmoud Othman since the televised interview and his family remains without any information about his fate and whether he was charged with any offences and tried.